Association of Music Personnel in Public Radio 
Spring 2002

From Doug Vernier:

      James F. Bender, the author of the “NBC Handbook of Pronunciation,” put it this way: “From a realistic point of view, that pronunciation is best that is most readily understood. This means that the broadcaster should use the pronunciation that is spoken by the educated people of the area served by the station . . .” This point of view would likely reject the “dumbing down” approach.
       I “often” (pronounced without the t) ask my students if they know the rule for how you say the word the. Is it pronounced “thee” or is it pronounced “tha”? No one seems to know the answer. Of course, we professionals know (or do we) that you pronounce “the” as “thee” before a vowel sound and “tha” before a consonant sound. So you would say “thee FM station” because the “f” sound in FM is really pronounced “ef,” so it is a vowel sound. You would also say “tha table.” The reason this pronunciation works so well is because your tongue hardly has to move at all to go from “thee” to a vowel sound, such as “the Indian.” Therefore, smoother speech and consequently clearer speech can result.
      Equally abused is the tiny word A. Unless you are referring to the letter, you do not pronounce it like the letter A, rather you should say “ah” because it is more efficient to say it that way and it produces smoother speech.
      These are not “pet peeves” but rules for good speech that should not be broken when a voice comes over the radio.

Doug Vernier, KUNI/KHKE, University of Northern Iowa.

From Thomas Pease

      I had a great time at the Music Personnel Conference (my first). It was exciting to meet so many people committed to broadcasting music on our public airwaves. The recent news from the New York Times on the dropping of classical music on WNYC in a city with the largest concentration of artists, record labels, artist representatives, musical ensembles, and other creative intellectual movers and shakers in the world simply stuns me. 
      There was talk at the Strategic Planning session about AMPPR being more of an advocate for the broadcasting of music. I hope we pursue this aim. 
      So I have some questions to pose. Sorry, I have no answers, but I hope these questions encourage vigorous debate. 
      1. What are some models we should learn from as broadcasters of music (specifically public stations, not commercial models)?
      2. Why is there a lingering perception that news and information programming is a more valuable service than the broadcasting of music? After 9-11, the concert at the Kennedy Center and the New York concerts/services were mechanisms for healing that no amount of discussion could duplicate. We at WETA provided this service through our broadcasts of a special concert from the Kennedy Center, the Brahms Requiem concert with the New York Philharmonic, and the Riverside Church service.  Some of the music we air actually changes lives! 
      3. What are some ways that we as broadcasters can be good internal advocates for music in our own organizations? 
      4. From the Public Broadcasting Act of 1967 47 USC Sec. 396, Title 47, Chapter 5, Subchapter III, Part IV, Sec. 396, Statute A (http://www.cpb.org/about/history/uscode.html): “The Congress hereby finds and declares that . . . it is in the public interest of encourage the development of programming that involves creative risks and that addresses the needs of unserved and underserved audiences, particularly children and minorities.”
      There is a great need for substantial, meaningful cultural programming on the radio. Note that in many cities and large sections of the country, people would have no exposure to classical music or opera except through public radio. Classical music has long had a dearth of broadcast spectrum, when it exists at all. When stations abandon this music for talk, this audience is no longer served. Loss of regional musics such as blues, bluegrass, Native American music, etc., are also troubling and mean other minority audiences become underserved. 
      I know we have to choose which audience will serve, but I wish more people would ask who those voices (or sounds) are in your area that have no voice and consider serving them. If there is a way to address these audiences and the means to do so, then don’t we have a responsibility?
      Thanks to you all for bringing meaningful and neglected music of all formats to listeners throughout this country.

Thomas Pease, Music Librarian, WETA-FM 90.9, Washington, D.C.

From Kurt A. Anderson

      I’ve been using an XM Radio in the car for a few weeks. I find the musical channels to offer alternatives to what I’d hear on the AM/FM radio (and thus reducing my AM/FM AQH time).
      The news channels are another story. Audio from TV News Cable channels have too much hype and too little thoughtfulness. My only XM news channel options are the BBC  and maybe the XM News Channel (mostly AP audio feeds). The BBC is commercial free and of good quality. The XM News Channel has 60 second openings for commercials which are filled with promos for other channels. Between those and the so-so news it gets little of my time except for top of the hour headlines when the local public stations aren’t airing them.
Since Sirius programming will offer the BBC, WRN, PRI and 2 NPR channels It should grab more of my road listening time than XM does.

Kurt Anderson, General Manager
WMNR Fine Arts Radio, Monroe, Connecticut

      On April 4, Vermont Public Radio announced that two longtime public radio listeners had presented the station with an endowment gift of one million dollars. It is one of the largest individual gifts made to a community-licensed station. Wes and Terry Phillips have been contributing listeners to VPR for nine years.
      “We feel it is of the utmost importance to support Vermont Public Radio,” said the Phillips in a letter to Vermont Public Radio as reported in a VPR press release. “Without the support of listeners, we might very well lose the public broadcasting of classical music.” The Phillips’ gift endows a classical music host position at VPR.
      Staige Davis, Chair of the VPR Board of Directors, said that “at a time when there are questions about the role of classical music on the radio, this gift affirms VPR’s commitment to those who founded the station 25 years ago with the intention of having a place on the dial where great music could be celebrated and enjoyed.” 
      The Phillips said they hope their gift will encourage other listeners to support the statewide public radio service.